LAS CRUCES - Officials on Tuesday granted a series of approvals for a new subdivision, called Rincon Hills, in north Las Cruces — sparking concerns among some neighbors about traffic congestion.

At issue is that the proposed 222-lot, horseshoe-shaped subdivision has just two main outlets, both of which tie into Settlers Pass Boulevard.

Linda Weisel, who lives in an adjacent subdivision, said traffic already has "exponentially increased" since she moved to the neighborhood in 2013. A lot of drivers don't obey the speed limit, and an inconvenient hill keeps other drivers from being able to see the speeding ones.

"There needs to be another egress before this (Rincon Hills) can be developed like this," Weisel adamantly told P & Z commissioners before their vote.

A third outlet?

Residents said they were hoping for an outlet from the proposed Rincon Hills onto a segment of yet-to-be-built Rinconada Boulevard. While there is an emergency vehicle outlet and pedestrian/bike path in the plan, a full-fledged street connection to the future Rinconada Boulevard is not being proposed by the developers — Ken Thurston and his son, Kent Thurston, of Rincon Valley LLC.

In February, the Las Cruces City Council OK'd a request by Rincon Valley LLC to defer improvements to the 830-foot portion of Rinconada Boulevard adjacent to the proposed subdivision. The road would have to be paved but not immediately. The agreement also allowed Rincon Valley LLC to use a gravity-fed sewer system, instead of what's known as a "lift station," and called for the company to build a larger park than what was originally proposed.

Several commissioners, too, expressed concerns about traffic on Setters Pass, which would increase considerably with the addition of more than 200 homes once Rincon Hills is fully built out.

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The site of the Rincon Hills subdivision is shown near the north end of Rinconada Boulevard in Las Cruces.(Photo: Doña Ana County records, Las Cruces Sun-News)

P & Z Commissioner Roberta Gran said, however, she was "pleased to hear" that Rinconada Boulevard is slated to eventually connect to Parkhill Drive to the north, which would help alleviate the traffic.

Parkhill Drive connects to the Parkhill Estates subdivision to the west and to Del Rey Boulevard.

P & Z Commissioner Sharon Thomas, a former city councilor, said she liked the overall plan but "the only thing I'd like is a real exit on the Rinconada (Boulevard) side."

Motion withdrawn

Thomas initially proposed an amendment to require the exit on Rinconada. But a city staff person told her it likely would be in conflict with the Las Cruces City Council's approval of a development agreement in February for the subdivision.

"I'm still concerned about this, but if it's been approved by the council, I withdraw my motion," she said.

City planner Katherine Harrison-Rogers responded, saying the city council's approval wasn't of the development itself but "just some provisions having to do with development."

"The development agreement was specific to the development of Rinconada (Boulevard) and some of the items inside, and generally the ability to enlarge the park — they didn't approve the park," she said.

A park is proposed to be built in the west side of the Rincon Hills subdivision. Some residents said they were concerned because extra parking for visitors to the park wasn't included in the plans. Kent Thurston said the street design should accommodate the park traffic.

"The way the road is constructed, you'll have plenty of on-street parking for the park," he said.

Streets throughout the development are proposed to be named after streets in the Monopoly board game.

Approvals granted

The planning and zoning commission voted 6-0 to:

OK an amendment to the Rincon Hills master plan that reduces the number of proposed phases from five to three, expands the park size, increases the number of lots from 201 to 222 and expands the western boundary to encompass land owned by Rinconada Development of Las Cruces. The P & Z is considered the final authority, unless the item is appealed.

recommend to the Las Cruces City Council a zone change for some parcels in the proposed development to align them with the new master plan.